Stop Optimizing.
Start Becoming.
The Productivity Field Guide is about identifying who you want to become in every role you play, and building systems to get there. That’s not productivity. That’s a life worth living.
Most productivity advice is about doing more, faster
Clear your inbox. Batch your tasks. Hack your calendar. You’ve read those books. Maybe you’ve even built those systems. And somehow the days still fill up with work that doesn’t matter while the things you care about wait.
This course is different.
Before we talk about calendars and task managers, we figure out the roles you play in your life and who you want to be in each one. The ancient Greeks called it Arete, the pursuit of excellence in your own character. Get that foundation right and every productivity decision afterward gets easier. You know what to take on. You know what to decline. You know why.
I went on a deep dive through modern productivity literature and theory. At the same time, I went back to Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius for advice. What I ended up with was a productivity system founded on ancient principles but built with modern tools. A system that let me ship my best work and enjoy life at the same time.
I’ve published 17 Field Guides. I’ve recorded some 1,800 hours of podcasts. I’ve written a daily blog since 2007. And I practiced law for nearly 30 years. The most frequent question I get asked is “How do you do it all?”
This course answers that question.
Roles, not goals
The system starts with a question most productivity courses never ask. Who are you trying to become?
You define the roles that matter in your life. Parent, professional, partner, creator, friend. Then you write down your ideal self in each one. That written statement becomes your compass for every decision that follows, from the quarterly plan all the way down to what you do at 2:00 on a Tuesday.
From that foundation, the course builds out the whole apparatus. The quarterly-monthly-weekly review cascade. Hyper-scheduling. The daily priority (singular). The seven-step shutdown ritual. None of it is theoretical. It’s the system I run every day, taught step by step.
And it deals with all of your life, not just what you do at work.
Watch 30+ minutes of the course
Want to check out the course before you commit? Here you go. Over thirty minutes of sample lessons, including the opening videos on roles and Arete, the foundation the whole system stands on.
Watch this first. If the roles-and-Arete idea clicks, the rest of the course will land. If it doesn’t, no hard feelings.
The deepest revision yet
Based on a year of teaching and thousands of conversations with students, I’ve added the concepts and tools that make the biggest difference. These aren’t theoretical additions. They came from watching where people get stuck, and what actually gets them unstuck.
Shadow Roles & the Inner Vader
For every role you value, there’s a shadow version. The distracted parent. The cynical creator. Naming yours doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you a mindful one.
The Arete Radar
New commitments arrive constantly. Emails, invitations, “quick favors.” The Arete Radar detects them before they hijack your capacity, with the pause between request and response built in.
Physical Anchors
Digital systems are poor at environmental cues. A bracelet engraved with “Arete.” A guitar placed in your chair. Tangible reminders that put your intentions in your field of vision.
Solving for Meaningfulness
When it comes to defining your roles, efficiency is the enemy. You can’t automate the growth of a tree, and you can’t rush the formation of your character. The slowness serves you.
The Blank Page Ritual
After a year with your Arete statements, rewrite them entirely from scratch without looking at the old version. Your values move from RAM to ROM. From notes you check to who you are.
The Overhead Tax
Every project carries a hidden management cost. About an hour per project, per week. Twenty projects is twenty hours before you make anything. This math becomes your No-Engine.
A system that compounds
This isn’t a quick fix. Real change takes effort. But when it clicks, you’ll find euthymia, the tranquility of knowing you’re on the right path.
- A written statement of your roles and Arete. Your compass for everything.
- A quarterly review ritual you’ll actually look forward to.
- A daily planning practice that takes 15 minutes and doubles your output.
- A shutdown ritual that lets you disconnect from work completely.
- The ability to say no without guilt, and the language to do it.
- A system that compounds over months into genuine transformation.
“His best work ever”
“Compared to other productivity resources, this guide is not about figuring out how to do more things in less time; this field guide is about figuring out how to give more time to the important things.”
“I’ve been a productivity nerd for decades. I was hesitant at first, thinking it would be a rehash of the things I already learned, but I’m glad I did. David projects productivity through a different lens – one that most productivity gurus don’t provide.”
“I’ve been playing with Productivity systems for nearly 20 years. I wouldn’t expect to have anything new to learn. Sparky proved me wrong. He just saved me from a painful annual review process.”
“He teaches a productivity system that is unique to you: it grows out of your life roles and what is important to you. I can testify that after following his system for the past couple of years, it is transformative.”
“I have almost ALL of the MacSparky Field Guides but without a doubt this is the best! This course actually makes you take a long hard look at yourself. It makes you question why you do what you do, who you do things for and what you need to do to be the best person you can be.”
“I bought this because I buy all of David’s Field Guides, but wasn’t expecting much from this, figuring it would be too touchy-feely. Instead, I found it incredibly useful. It is truly a practical guide. This will be useful to anyone, no matter where you are on life’s journey.”
More from the people on the path. Hover any card to pause.
“The chapter on roles and arete blew my mind.”
“Less hustle, more done. I didn’t think that was possible.”
“I wake up knowing what matters. That’s new for me.”
“What I love about David’s Productivity Field Guide is it’s not about cranking more widgets, it’s how to define your best self and then pursue it.”
“I finally stopped feeling guilty about saying no.”
“My wife noticed the change in me before I did.”
“I’ve tried GTD, Pomodoro, all of it. This is different.”
“David provides his framework and processes so we can create our own unique systems for productivity. A process that I am throughly enjoying working through.”
“There is an engaging degree of simplicity and clarity to his products. He not only teaches you but does so at your pace and your way.”
“It’s already helping me be more effective in my day to day routines and has really got me thinking about how this could change my life.”
“I read it in one day and re-read it several times since. The course has paid many dividends so far and resulted in several beneficial life changes.”
“He’s pointing one towards a better life, not simply towards the quantity of work one gets done. Well done.”
“Unlike almost every other Productivity Guide, this one doesn’t push a hard-and-fast philosophical school or toolkit. It’s meant for adults who can think about the principles, experiment, and decide for themselves.”
Who this is for, and who it is not
This is for you if
The question sounds familiar. The answer matters to you.
- You’ve tried productivity systems before and they never quite stuck.
- You want a system that covers your whole life, work included.
- You care about the why behind the how. The philosophy is a feature, not a detour.
- You’re willing to slow down long enough to figure out your roles before speeding up.
- You’d rather build a system unique to you than adopt someone else’s wholesale.
This is not for you if
This system works. But it works slowly.
- You’re looking for a quick hack to clear your inbox. This isn’t it.
- You want someone to hand you a finished system with no reflection required.
- You expect transformation by Friday. Real change takes months, and that’s by design.
- You only want app tutorials. The system uses tools, but it isn’t about them.
Four parts, one Field Guide
The video course to learn the system. The book to live with it. The workshop series to implement it. The quarterly planning sessions to keep it running all year.
The Video Course
Twelve sections covering the complete system, from the foundation up. Focused lessons, no fluff, no padding. Closed captioning in multiple languages.
- The Journey So Far
- Productivity Ground Rules
- Roles and Arete
- Maker, Manager, Consumer
- Projects and Habits
- Planning for Arete
- Hyper-Scheduling
- Daily Planning
- Doing the Work
- Shutting Down
- Checking Your Work
- Final Thoughts
New 2026 content throughout: Shadow Roles, the Arete Radar, Physical Anchors, the Overhead Tax, fluid block scheduling, and the Ideal Week.
The Book
The whole system in writing, revised for 2026 with the new major concepts. Some people read first and watch second. Some go the other way. Both work.
- ePub in fixed and reflowable layouts
- PDF for reading anywhere
- Audio versions of the course sections
The Workshop Series
Eight hands-on sessions walking the entire system into practice, with demonstrations, Q&A, and companion guides for each one. All recorded, all yours to work through at your pace.
- The Foundation: Roles, Not Goals
- Defining Your Arete
- The Review System
- Quarterly Planning Deep Dive
- Projects, Habits, and Saying No
- Hyper-Scheduling and Daily Planning
- Maker, Manager, Consumer + Staying the Course
- Integration and Troubleshooting
Quarterly Planning Sessions
The quarterly review is the heartbeat of this system. Four live sessions throughout 2026, one at the start of each quarter, where we work through the process together. These aren’t lectures. They’re working sessions.
- Leave with your roles reviewed and your Arete refined
- Your next 90 days mapped out before you log off
- Bring your questions, get feedback live
- All sessions recorded if you can’t attend live
One price. Everything included.
No subscription. No upsells. No tiers. One purchase, lifetime access, including updates.
Everything, $199
- The complete video course. 80+ lessons, 8+ hours of core instruction
- The 42,000-word book in ePub and PDF, plus course audio
- 8 recorded workshop sessions with companion guides
- Live quarterly planning sessions through 2026, all recorded
- New 2026 content: Shadow Roles, the Arete Radar, Physical Anchors, and more
- Lifetime updates as the system evolves
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Everything is waiting in the MacSparky community, book downloads included.
David Sparks
David started MacSparky in 2007 and has spent the years since teaching people to get more out of their technology and their time. The blog runs every week, the Mac Power Users and Focused podcasts run every week, and the MacSparky Field Guides cover the big topics in depth.
Before going all-in on MacSparky, David practiced law for nearly 30 years while publishing books, recording courses, and shipping podcast episodes on the side. The question he gets asked most is how he does it all. The Productivity Field Guide is the answer, the actual system he uses, refined over decades and grounded in philosophy he’s been reading his whole adult life.
He has taught this material to thousands of students and refined the 2026 edition through live workshops and quarterly planning sessions. This is the deepest version of the course yet.
Frequently asked
Do I need a Mac or specific apps? +
No. The system is built on roles, reviews, and planning rituals, and it runs on whatever tools you already use. The examples lean Apple because that’s my world, but the course covers analog approaches too. You could run this whole system on paper.
How is the course delivered? +
The Field Guide lives in the MacSparky community on Circle. After you buy, you get two emails: a receipt from the payment processor, then an invitation with your access link. Click it, set up your account, and everything is waiting for you, including the book downloads.
How is this different from other productivity courses? +
Most productivity advice starts with the tactics. Inbox zero, time blocking, app setups. This course starts with who you want to become in each role you play, and only then builds the tactics on top. The philosophy comes from Aristotle, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. The tactics come from decades of testing what actually works.
How long until I see results? +
The honest answer is that this works slowly. You’ll have a daily planning practice and a shutdown ritual within days, but the deeper change builds over months of reviews. For many people, real transformation becomes visible around six months in. If you want a quick fix, this isn’t it.
What if I can’t make the live quarterly planning sessions? +
All sessions are recorded and added to your library. The live sessions are working sessions where we do the quarterly review together, so attending live is better, but you lose nothing permanent by catching the recording.
I own an earlier edition. What’s new in 2026? +
This edition goes deeper than ever before. New content on Shadow Roles and the Inner Vader, the Arete Radar, Physical Anchors, Solving for Meaningfulness, the Blank Page Ritual, and the Overhead Tax, plus the eight-session workshop series and the live quarterly planning sessions. The book is fully revised too.
Should I read the book or watch the videos? +
Either works. They cover the same system, so pick the format that fits how you learn. Plenty of students do both, reading first and watching second or the other way around. There’s even a short video in the course to help you decide.
Is this just philosophy? I want something practical. +
The philosophy is the foundation, but the course is step-by-step practical. You’ll write your roles and Arete statements, build your review cadence, block your calendar, and set up your daily plan with specific techniques for each. Students who expected something touchy-feely keep telling me how practical it turned out to be.
What’s the refund policy? +
14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. If the course isn’t for you, write in and you get your money back.
Put a dent in the universe
The pursuit of excellence in your own character is the kind of thing that makes you want to leap out of bed in the morning. That’s not productivity. That’s a life worth living.